The Long Night
by Nes Mikel
Summary: The Caravan. A ancient faction that lasted for many millenia. It is now disbanding... and a new race, a new conflict is about to emerge... Discontinued.
1. Prologue

**__**

"The Long Night"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

Standard Disclaimers apply. You know what I'm talking about. Don't sue me. Please.

**__**

Prologue

__

That's where we came from, they all said, as they pointed out to the faint white stars that shined ever so dim in the red night sky one by one.   
  
It always troubled Lekim when the old ones told him this. Perhaps he had heard those words millions of times in the course of his life. He shrugged them off, as always, trying to show respect for the old ones so they won't get disappointed, secretly hoping to create an excuse to leave the area. They didn't notice, and they went on to suggest that he should join them. Lekim groaned inwardly, but didn't stir. It seemed that he was due for another one of their history lessons.   
  
Helpless, he forced himself to bend his knees and sat down besides them. Happy to have another within their company, the old ones tried to offer him some C2H5OH, but he refused. This only interested them even more. He was sixteen cycles old, they said. He should start trying some. Lekim shook his head sideways as politely as he could, and returned his gaze to the campfire that was burning brightly in the center of the caravan.   
  
The fire, Lekim thought. What an amazing invention. It was this fire that gave birth to their civilization, shaped it, and destroyed it. Fire was the dream that had fueled their civilization, the nightmare that charred their homelands. They were all that was left now.   
  
The old ones kept on talking. The topic of revolution came up, and since this interested Lekim slightly, he pitched in. Apparently the revolution was drawing to a close. Rumors held that the Mrrshan fleets had been utterly destroyed by the ever-legendary great fleet, and the New Orion's were advancing towards their homeworld. Krr'isha purred at this news, alarmed. She offered to leave the caravan immediately in the interests of their survival. She was a Mrrshan, and being with them meant she was endangering them all. All of they dismissed her opinion with optimism, sharing a good collective laugh.   
  
They were all different, and nearly all of them were wanted men, women, and beings anyway. Hunted down by the transplanatary authority, by the NO's, even by their own cultures, all because they had tried to gain the basic right of every living being: freedom.   
  
They were indeed an odd bunch. Almost half of the caravan consisted of Humans, including Lekim himself, but the other half consisted of a mixed bag of Mrrshan, Elerian, Alkari, Meklar, Sakkra, Psilon, and even a few Darlock and Evon. Perhaps they numbered two hundred, but they all knew each other well. Lekim had heard from the old ones that they all had traveled together long before he himself came into existence. After all, although mostly replaced, PX-23-DXY was close to being two thousand cycles old, a remarkable achievement. This fascinated him. A band of freedom fighters, wandering from system to system, gathering together to form their own collective freedom. And he was a part of it.   
  
But now all hope seemed to have been lost. The revolution, the last beacon of hope they had counted on, was diminishing. The NO's were systematically seizing control over planet after planet, exterminating all who opposed them but spared the ones who dared not resisted. So some of the old ones were breaking in, discussing the disbanding of the caravan itself.   
  
Naturally, there were those that opposed. Lekim stood up to his feet and accused the old ones for being cowardly, claiming he could take up the leadership role to lead the caravan on indefinitely. This got a laugh out of them, a reaction Lekim didn't expect. The old ones told him how he reminded of them back when they were young. But, they continued; youth didn't see the world as they did. They had gone through in reality what Lekim only could in fantasy, and they knew that the universe was a cold, harsh place. They were getting old, or if you put it in PX-23-DXY's words, even rusty. They were tired. They wanted to rest. And above all they wanted people like Lekim himself to rest too. He had a future ahead of him and the old ones only the past.   
  
So, unexpectedly, it was Lekim that had led them to an agreement they should indeed disband. In fact, it turned out most of the arrangements had already been made for them to quietly slip back into those "zoo-worlds" the NO's had made for them. It wasn't their vision of paradise, they admitted, but it was better than the alternatives. So they dispersed into the camps, spreading the news to the rest of the caravan, leaving Lekim behind the campfire, stunned.   
  
He sat down again, starting at the campfire once more. So, he thought, you had done it again fire. You had destroyed another thing. Tears flowed through his eyes, an ability he found to be of no use before but found himself using it very rapidly now. No, he thought; this couldn't be the end. Through the tears, he stared at the campfire, blurred with the water. You may have destroyed one thing, fire, but you will now help me. Lekim stood up, and wiped the tears away from my face.   
  
Fire, he told the now-disappearing sparks, you would now help me. You will help me to create another caravan, a one even greater than this, a one so great so we would truly find freedom. Until that day comes…   
  
The fire flickered out, and light disappeared into the night.


	2. Chapter One

**__**

"The Long Night"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

Standard Disclaimers apply. You know what I'm talking about. Don't sue me. Please.

One

PX-23-DXY's electronic eyes scanned the disappearing human crowd once more, then promptly turned his mechanical back on them. Coolness swept through his systems, and several of his super-sensitive sensors built inside him were sounding alarms but his CPU soon silenced them. It was a minor issue that PX-23-DXY was finding to be troublesome. It was constantly distracting him from other more important tasks that needed to be done. He would have liked to reprogram the entire structure, but that would have taken minutes, and right now he didn't have minutes.   
  
The ancient robot closed the shuttle bay door with minor haste and headed back into to the cockpit. He took one last quick scan through the viewscreen of the shuttle, confirming no one was there. Satisfied, he proceeded to ignite the main engines, and flipped on the hover. Soon, the shuttle was silently lifting up from the ground. PX-23-DXY adjusted his mechanical body to lock on to the chair he was occupying. He was ready now. Launch.   
  
But somehow, he hesitated. That surprised him: his race was not known to hesitate at such a simple task, especially after they had descended from the confines of the flesh they occupied just a few centuries ago. Now he was purely machine, and machines were not suppost to hesitate. Yet why? Another scan around the perimeter confirmed the reason. He was lonely. For the first time in two thousands cycles, he did not have company. Sure, there were AI's that he could talk to, but they were AI's. They were fundamentally different from him. They were created out of the imagination from other sentient beings, while he was the sentient being himself. He was alone.   
  
A feeling of regret seeped through the systems, causing another set of small alarms to go off. He angrily ordered the CPU to switch them off temporarily for good, and hastily returned to his task. He could reflect back on himself after he was in orbit.   
  
"Computer, take me into orbit and take appropriate protocols in preparation of boarding _Zero_."   
  
"Acknowledged." The cold tone of the AI replied. "Launch codes confirmed. Hover initialization sequence confirmed. Initiating launch."   
  
And off he went. The computer told PX-23-DXY that the shuttle would be able to board the _Zero_ in twelve minutes. So for twelve more minutes PX-23-DXY had the chance to reflect on himself. Usually he wouldn't do this, normally he would ask the computer to notify him two minutes before arrival and went off into sleep mode, but now it seemed that it terrified him to do so. Usually when he did, there was always someone besides him that would wake him up when trouble arose, a being who he could always trust with absolute mechanical loyalty. Now those were gone.   
  
The programmed emotion of regret seeped back into his CPU. He had volunteered for this job; to take care of _Zero_ after everyone took refuge in his or her or its respective worlds. After all, the caravan couldn't just leave the ship in orbit, as it would act like a flag to attract all the transplanetary authorities. As PX-23-DXY could essentially live on any world and live for almost indefinitely, he was the candidate for the job and volunteered it for himself. But he hadn't counted on sadness and loneliness occupy a large portion of his CPU. He hadn't anticipated the program. He smiled his mechanical smile to himself. Perhaps he had been with the caravan too long. It was as if they were turning him back into an organic being again, and their entire departure had strengthened the feeling.   
  
Suddenly, the communications console on the shuttle beeped. He was suddenly pulled back from his self-reflection back into reality. Had he been spotted by the authorities? He feared for the safety of _Zero_, when he realized that the signal was coming from _Zero_ itself. He put it on screen.   
  
And there was the face of Lekim. The Lekim, the one who PX-23-DXY has just left behind on Praxis, the Lekim that he had said his farewells to just moments ago. And yet he was right there, on board _Zero_ smiling his usual bright smile.   
  
"Looks like that holographic program fooled you completely, eh?"   
  
He had been indeed.   
  
"Why did you do this?" PX-23-DXY couldn't help but to ask.   
  
Lekim shrugged. "Why, I thought you might be lonely."  



	3. First Interlude

**__**

"The Long Night"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

Standard Disclaimers apply. You know what I'm talking about. Don't sue me. Please.

**__**

The Caravan

__

Lekim was still there, staring at the dead fire when someone promptly came up besides him. It was one of the other old ones that had supported Lekim in the short-lived debate. Krr'isha.   
  
"You did well." she tried.   
  
"No, I didn't." Lekim criticized himself. "You know this more than I do." He didn't even attempt to take his eyes off the charred ground.   
  
She sighed. "Can't argue with that."   
  
He didn't laugh.   
  
Lekim sat down. She noticed with interest that his eyes were slightly watery. He had been crying.   
  
"They know too." he replied shortly after. "It must have been hard for all of them to even conceive the thought of disbanding. But I guess it must have come to this sooner of later." His entire body was shaking from anger.   
  
"There was nothing we could have done to save the revolution."   
  
"I know!" he bursted out suddenly, his fist clenched tightly, trying to regain control of his emotions. "I know... but I didn't want to believe."   
  
She sighed again, and perhaps she felt a little sympathetic; she sat down besides him. She put on one of her furry hands onto his broad shoulder, trying to reassure him silently.   
  
"Why?" he asked suddenly.   
  
"Hm?"   
  
"You supported me in my argument at first, but quickly sided with them."   
  
"Yes."   
  
"Why?"   
  
She took her hand away from his shoulder, and gave it some thought. "I don't know."   
  
"You don't know?" he finally turned his eyes away and faced her for the first time. She could see anger was slowly dancing in his eyes.   
  
"I agreed with you at first because you had the same reasons as I did."   
  
Lekim seemed irritated at her response. He had told her before how he hated her the way she talked so cryptically. She shrugged the thought away. She was what she was. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less.   
  
"So you didn't want to leave the caravan too."   
  
She nodded. "It is hard to leave behind ones you knew so well."   
  
"Even for you? You offered to leave just moments ago even before we talked of this."   
  
"That was a different matter." she replied. "With our homeworld slowly coming under the grasp of those infidels, I knew they would come after our kind with renewed vigor."   
  
"But there are dozen other Mrrshans besides you."   
  
"I am the center figure. Surely they would want me dead."   
  
"That doesn't change the fact that there are others, and they are almost equally wanted as you are."   
  
Krr'isha was silent.   
  
"So," Lekim folded his arms. "You just wanted to get away from us because you felt responsible."   
  
She tried her best to hide her emotions, but Lekim had spotted her reaction. "You're so foolish and full of yourselves." He shook his head, and lied down on his back against the soft sand. Lekim chuckled silently at the comment he had just made.   
  
"I see. I think I understand a little now, Krr."   
  
She smiled. Krr'isha copied Lekim and rested besides him, feeling the soft touch of sand on her furs. She felt a little relaxed for the first time in a long time.   
  
"Krr?"   
  
"Hm?" she was half-dreaming now.   
  
"Thanks."   
  
She was going to have a good dream tonight.  



	4. Chapter Two

**__**

"The Long Night"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

Standard Disclaimers apply. You know what I'm talking about. Don't sue me. Please.

**__**

Two

__

Looking back now, Lekim realized that the actions Krr took when she caught him making the holographic program were not surprising at all.

Heck, she was the strictest being Lekim had ever known, following protocols and orders exactly to the letter. So it certainly came as a surprise when he learned that Krr didn't report him to the old ones. Instead, she later came into his quarters to request any assistance she could give to help him make the holographic program. 

He was skeptical at first, thinking it was an elaborate set-up Krr designed to teach him a lesson. But her skills in computer programming just blew him away, creating a flawless holographic self-portrait program that fooled Pixdixy himself. She was definitely not following protocols at that point.

What surprised Lekim the most, however, is that in exchange for her contribution, she asked him for his help in order for her to create another holographic program; for herself. 

It was all coming together now. So that was why she asked for her to be left off at Praxis. In order for this trick to work, they needed to activate the program at the last planet that Pixdixy was letting the caravan off.

He still found it puzzling as to the reason why Krr didn't bother go join the others on the hidden colony in Der Espond. Many members of the caravan who had no homes left of decided to go there, where one of the few other remaining Elder Races lived. There, they decided to attempt to forge their own civilization from scratch again. In fact Lekim was tempted himself to join everyone else, but he was still angry with the old ones from taking his dreams away. He knew it was foolish to think so – Krr taught him that – but emotions were a strange thing.

Regardless, he was happy. As he witnessed Pixdixy's shuttle finally entering the shuttle bay, he took a quick glance towards his right. Krr was there, tall, elegant, and almost cute if you looked at her as a catgirl. He chuckled at that thought. A catgirl! He shook his head. She was almost 300 cycles old, and she was no girl. She was one of the many old ones Lekim respected, one of his many Mentors. He was fortunate to still have her by his side.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked, not even glancing in his direction. He couldn't help it anymore - he laughed. "Oh, nothing."

Krr only raised an eyebrow in response. 

Lekim turned his attention back to the shuttle bay, and witnessed Pixdixy advancing towards the air lock. Not that Pixdixy needed air in the first place anyway, but the majority of the Caravan did. Lekim walked down towards the other end of the bridge where the other half of the lock located to punch the codes so he could open the doors to let Pixdixy in. He heard the _clank_ sound in the other end, and the slight hum of Pixdixy's hover engines notified Lekim of his arrival in the airlock cabin. Lekim continued to operate the door console, pressurizing the tiny cabin between the doors. With a _whoosh_ the cabin was filled with freshly oxidized air, and the outer door swung open, and Pixdixy hovered through the door.

Krr touched a panel nearby, closing the image of the shuttle bay on the viewscreen and walked over to Pixdixy. This caught Pixdixy's attention. Although it was naturally hard to read Pixdixy's emotions, Lekim was with him long enough to tell his moods apart. "Krr'isha too? My, isn't this turning out to be a fine party." He was obviously happy.

"Pleased to meet you too, PX-23-DXY." Krr replied somewhat sarcastically, but she too was smiling. It was as if it were a reunion of the caravan, small, but a reunion nonetheless. It was somewhat ironic because they didn't separate that long ago, but it was the bond that forged between them that made them feel that separation was intolerable. Even if it was only for a brief moment.

But nonetheless, it didn't change the fact that the caravan has been disbanded. All that remained of it was on board this ship, the _Zero_. Only the three of them, all others, gone. It was a concept Lekim found hard to swallow, but he knew that he could only go forward now. He had already made his decision. There was no turning back.

Lekim walked over to Pixdixy and hugged him. It was very awkward; Pixdixy's Meklar body composition reminded him of a spider, and he was almost three times larger than he was, was hovering off the ground, and he was a machine. Hugging him in earnest was a challenge itself. Nonetheless Pixdixy received Lekim's appreciation very well, and didn't complain. "Glad to have you with us, Pixdixy."

That did, and he beeped. "Do I have to remind you every time that I do not appreciate the way you call my name?"

Lekim let go of Pixdixy, and shrugged innocently. "What's wrong with calling you that?"

"First of all, it's wrong, because you're manipulating my name. Second, you've left out the 23, a number that I hold in regard with pride. Thirdly, you're just a spoiled brat." It was Pixdixy's style of humor.

Lekim gave him a light punch against his metallic shell. "Come on, it's not as if it's going to kill you. Get used to it, because I'm going to call you that for the rest of my life." Pixdixy replayed the laugh track programmed inside him, sharing Lekim's enthusiasm. They were having a good time back together already. This, Lekim knew, was how the caravan should be. Always be.

"Now come on you two." Krr interrupted. "This is no time for games. We have things to discuss."

"She is right." Pixdixy promptly disengaged from Lekim and focused his electronic eyes on him. "You still haven't told me what your plans for this ship are."

"He is right, Lekim. I only went along so I could keep an eye on you. You humans are so reckless, I feared that you might go ahead and get yourself into a situation that will kill yourself." Looks like Krr's sarcastic tone was back again, Lekim observed.

Lekim held his hands high up in the air, as if he were surrendering to the other two's demands. "All right, all right. But promise you won't get angry at me."  


"That depends." Krr again.

Lekim tried to ignore her and continued. "You already know that I want to make a new caravan. However, I understand the reality of the situation, and I understand the revolution is drawing to a close. But there is one thing I must do before my plans, er, my ideas will come into play."

"Where to you wish to go?" Pixdixy asked.

"Sol."


	5. Second Interlude

**__**

"The Long Night"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

Standard Disclaimers apply. You know what I'm talking about. Don't sue me. Please.

**__**

The Caravan

__

"Sol?"

"Haven't you ever heard of the place?" Yrn asked.

"Of course I've heard about it. What do you think I am? It's the Human homeworld, is it not?" PX-23-DXY asked. Yrn nodded slightly in response. "Why do you wish to go there?"

"I'm doing this as a favor for someone."

PX-23-DXY glanced over in the direction where the campfire was, where Lekim and Krr'isha were sleeping. A silent alarm ringed deep within the core programs within the cold machine, and this upset him. Somehow PX-23-DXY knew what was going on, but he wasn't sure. It was something Humans had once called sixth sense.

"You know going there will accomplish nothing." PX-23-DXY rebutted.

"I did not say specifically that I wanted to help the Humans defend the system." Yrr insisted. "The New Orions are already starting to send probes machines to wear their defenses down. Once the Great White Fleet arrives, there is no hope for them. Praxis will be the only hope left for them, and that is a zoo-world controlled by the New Orions."

Yrn glanced over to Lekim, and scanned the rest of the Humans that were around him. Perhaps this was Yrn's way of feeling sorry for his companions. Nearly half of the caravan consisted of Humans, and Sol had no doubt remained in their hearts indefinitely.

"More the reason not to go there." PX-23-DXY pointed out. "What do you seek?"

"A favor." Yrn replied without emotion. 

He was starting to irritate him. "You did not answer my question." he replied with a touch of anger.

"Do I have to?" Yrn stared right at him.

PX-23-DXY considered this for a moment. He shook his mechanical head sideways. It was no use arguing with this Evon. He was the youngest of the old ones, but he had always been uncooperative with them. But, PX-23-DXY admitted, he was a valuable ally: a master spy, trained from another one of the old ones, Kil-Moria, an aging Darlock who were near his last breaths. Perhaps Yrn wanted to seize this opportunity to recruit new students, but with the Caravan starting to disband, PX-23-DXY didn't see the logic behind Yrn's request. Besides, Sol wasn't exactly the best place to search for potential students. Not these days anyway.

"And what if I refuse?"

"You know what I'll do. Whatever it takes, my friend." Yrn replied coldly. An electrical chill ran through PX-23-DXY's wires. Sometimes this friend really scared him.

"You know the starlane route we have planned for the caravan does not make detours all because of one person." PX-23-DXY tried to argue. "And if you try anything funny, you know the caravan will come after you. You know what happened to the spy that infiltrated our caravan once."

"Of course." Yrn replied coolly. "I've heard that story from Kil-Moria a dozen times. Along with you, Krr'isha, and him, as I recall. That was the only time I got to take command of the ship. A enjoyable experience."

PX-23-DXY was annoyed. "Stop trying to be funny."

"I was being serious."

Yrr was like a rock; once he believed in something, he would pursue his goals no matter the cost. He even tried to kill him once. It was a moment that was burned forever in the tetraware harddrive in his CPU, an incident that had once threatened to destroy the entire caravan. It was useless to argue with him, so finally PX-23-DXY gave up. 

"Fine. I will take you as far as to Alpha Centauri, and you can take one of the shuttles in the bay. I've made modifications to several of them, which enables them to jump a few starlanes. Is that sufficient?"

"That will be sufficient." Yrr replied happily.


	6. Chapter Three

**__**

"The Long Night"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

Standard Disclaimers apply. You know what I'm talking about. Don't sue me. Please.

**__**

Three

"Explain." Krr'isha demanded.

"Look, I'll start explaining as soon as we get _Zero_'s course laid out towards Sol." Lekim replied.

"Lekim, I refuse." PX-23-DXY complained. "If you don't explain what's going on, this ship is not going anywhere."

Lekim tried to argue his point. "Look, Pixdixy, think about it. The more we stay in orbit, the chance is that the transplanetary authorities or the New Orion's spotting us is increasing every second we stay here."

"Shoot first, ask questions later?" Krr'isha asked.

Lekim nodded. "Something like that, Yeah. They can't intercept us while we're in hyperspace."

Krr'isha shook her head. "You're wrong in your assumption."

"What?"

"Although it's true _Zero_ can't engage in hyperspace, as well as the transplanetary authorities, we know that the New Orion's can." Krr'isha replied rather calmly. "We can deal with the authorities, it's the New Orion's we're worried about here. So you can explain your reasons here or in hyperspace, it doesn't matter. If they spot us, they spot us, and that's how it is."

Lekim hung his mouth open, stunned.

She went on: "It's true we can engage one _Nocturnal_-class ship of theirs, but that's about it. Even so we still only have 50:50 chances of survival."

"...then how did we survive up until now? I remember since the day I was born on this ship, we've engaged in countless battles!"

"We were lucky." Krr'isha replied.

"And we run away whenever we see New Orion's using... certain distractions." PX-23-DXY pitched in.

Lekim seemed astonished at this. "B... but how?"

"You do realize that you always weren't present on the bridge when the battles took place?" she questioned.

"Well, yeah..."

"Then there you go." Krr'isha waved Lekim off. "You do not have a reason not to explain your intentions anymore. If you do not mind, I would like to activate the cloak to lessen our chances of discovery, since you seem to be concerned about of discovery. But that will only fool the authorities, mind you."

Lekim just stood there, helpless. Krr'isha walked away from him and touched several panels beside the captain's seat. A slight hum was heard from the hulls of _Zero_, and the cloak was activated.

Krr'isha felt somewhat bad about crushing Lekim's hopes like that, but she knew it was necessary. It was the only way the young ones could ever hope to learn. She wasn't kidding when she said she feared for Lekim to get himself involved in a tragic situation: she was there to protect him. At the same time, however, she wanted him to fulfill his dreams. Those two wishes somehow contradicted each other, a situation she found very irritating to manage. But this was Lekim they were talking about.

She turned around to face Lekim once more. "Now tell us your reason."

He hesitated a little, but then caved in. "All right, all right, fine. The reason I want to go to Sol is so I could steal a particular item."

"Steal something from your own race?" PX-23-DXY asked. "Can you just not buy what you're looking for?"

"No, no." Lekim shook his head sideways. "It's a piece of technology I wanted. We haven't developed that yet, either has the other races."

"Then what are you looking for?" she demanded somewhat harshly. 

Lekim shrunk back slightly in anticipation of the rebuttal to come, but answered quite calmly. "I want to steal a New Orion ship."

__

"A what!?"


	7. Third Interlude

**__**

"The Long Night"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

Standard Disclaimers apply. You know what I'm talking about. Don't sue me. Please.

**__**

The Caravan

__

Yrn walked away from PX-23-DXY, feeling somewhat satisfied. Although he only recently had joined the ranks of the old ones, he felt confident in his abilities to manipulate so many to his cause. Their reasons were justified, because they were afraid of him. And for a good reason too.

Pondering on what to do, Yrn decided to take a walk outside of the camp to look at the bright shining stars overhead. It had become a habit when the entire caravan landed on planets to gather supplies or simply to rest. It was a moment of solitude Yrn enjoyed: away from the chaos of the universe, the chaos of the sector, the chaos within the caravan itself.

The history of the caravan was a long one. Like most of the young ones, like Lekim, he was born on board the Zero_. Yrn was among the generation of children to be born within the caravan unlike the others who just joined them. It was an accomplishment that somewhat haunted Yrn during his course of life. It was a responsibility he didn't particularly want, a burden he had to carry all up until now. So Yrn had pressed for the disbanding, but now that it was actually over he wasn't so sure anymore._

The caravan was a strange entity all by itself. No one knew anymore when the caravan itself was founded. Most thought at first that PX-23-DXY was one of the founders of the caravan, since Zero_ was originally his ship. When questioned of this PX-23-DXY would shrug it off. He told the entire caravan the story from time to time that there was another ship that belonged to the caravan even before the _Zero_, the now-legendary _T'katta_, which was unfortunately destroyed during the last phases of the Second Orion Civil War. Since then _Zero_ was their vessel, which was itself legendary. So many legends – so little facts._

Rumors had it that the caravan existed since the Elder Races came into existence, a theory that many of the caravan didn't doubt. Yrn himself believed it, so perhaps that was what it pained him to disband the caravan. After millenniums of continuous existence, terminating something of that magnitude just pained him.

Yrn continued to walk the desert night in absolute silence, trying to ease the pain. It didn't do any good. He had thought when it was over, the responsibilities he had carried would all go away... instead it worsened. The overwhelming responsibility of causing of the disbanding was overwhelming all others. Yrn staggered, the guilt almost suffocating him.

But, Yrn reassured himself, this wasn't the end. In fact, this was mealy the beginning of a second phase in the history of the caravan. That helped him ease his emotional pains a little. He stretched out his weakened muscles, trying to recover from the emotional shock, and stared into the cold night of space.

He then just realized that he was standing besides the sleeping figures of Lekim and Krr'isha. Looks like Krr'isha managed to convince Lekim slightly in calming down, Yrn observed with slight interest. Trying not wake them, he tried to leave the site with quiet haste when a voice called out to him.

"Yrn."

He froze in his tracks, and turned to face the waking figure. It was Lekim.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Yrn apologized. Lekim shook his head sluggishly as he sat up.

"No, not at..." Lekim paused to yawn. "...all."

"Touché."

Lekim raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you could speak the languages of Sol."

Yrn just shrugged. "It's common knowledge."

"Touché. Anyway..."

He held up his hand to stop Lekim from speaking any further. "Yes, I have spoken to him."

"And...?"

"He will take me as far as to Alpha Centauri, and allowed me to take one starlane-capable shuttle towards Sol."

"You sure you'll be okay all by yourself?"

Yrn chuckled slightly at his comment. Lekim just shrugged. "Hey, better safe than sorry."

"Perhaps you are right. No, I will be fine."

"Thanks for doing this for me."

"Not at all."

"I'll see you at Sol, then." With that, Lekim lay down on the sand and soon he was asleep once more.

Yrn sighed sympathetically, and slowly tiptoed away from the sleeping figures. Once he was sure he was distanced enough, he started walking as he looked up at the stars once more. He had a slight smile on his face.

"Such is life."


End file.
